If You Were The Judge Would You Sentence a 16 Year Old Boy Who Killed 1 Year Old Baby To Prison For 90 Years?

To the Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Pat Connolly , he
had no other option than to sentence Sixteen-year-old Donald Ray Dokins’ to life in prison for 90 years. For the short
stature and baby face of Ray Dokins’ belie the crime he committed: the fatal
shooting of a 1-year-old boy in the arms of his proud and doting father.

As he prepared to sentence the teenager, Los Angeles
Superior Court Judge Pat Connolly could barely contain his contempt. “You have no intestinal fortitude to sit up
and look at me,” Connolly said to Dokins, who was staring at the floor,
avoiding the judge’s gaze. “You have hatred in your heart that I can’t
understand.”

According to persecutors, “on June 4, 2012, Dokins, a
then-15-year-old gang member, rode up on a bicycle to a family gathered outside
a home in Watts. He drew a revolver and opened fire, killing 14-month-old Angel
Mauro Cortez Vega and wounding his 21-year-old father, Mauro Cortez. Dokins,
authorities say, mistakenly believed the father was a member of a rival gang
because of the color of his T-shirtˮ.

Prosecutors charged Dokins as an adult. Connolly sentenced
him to 90 years to life in prison.
Before the sentencing, friends and relatives of both the victims and
Dokins addressed the court. Dokins’
brother Derrick Washington described his sibling as a straight-A student who
wrote poetry.

Washington broke down in tears, asserting his brother’s
innocence. “He’s not a monster.

He’s just a little boy,” said Washington, wearing a rosary
around his neck. Another family member
told the judge that Dokins wouldn’t be around to raise his own daughter, who
police said is close to the same age as the child he killed.

The question still remains – if you were Judge Pat Connolly would
you sentence 16 year old donald ray dokins’ who killed 1 year old angel mauro
cortez vega to prison for 90 years?